Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Be still my bibliophile-writer- librarian's heart! The animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore won the 2012 Academy Award! After viewing the film, I am in love. I even got teary-eyed at the end!

From its website, the film is perfectly described as:

Inspired in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, "Morris Lessmore" is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation), award-winning author/illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hyrbrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. "Morris Lessmore" is old-fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

If the name William Joyce sounds familiar, then you must be familiar with the books like A Day with Wilbur Robinson (which became the animated film Meet the Robinsons) and the character Rolie Polie Olie.

Now! As much as I would :: love :: to show you the entire film, I decided that you would have to do the work to find it or, even better, purchase it because I believe that William Joyce and and Brandon Oldenburg and their entire team deserve it! But, here is the trailer!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Ahhh.. art! It's awesome! For today's storytime I tied in art ideas with the classic theme of colors. This theme was perfect for all the ages. My programs were small because of the holiday (President's Day) and only had an new infant in Toddler Story Time, so I quick morphed the Toddler program into a Baby program. I left the outline as if there were toddlers in the program and included the baby songs I actually did.

B = Baby Storytime
T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr. and illus. by Eric Carle (B, T)
The classic rhyming color book! I held the book while I had the kids put the pictures on the flannel board.Cat's Colors written and illus. by Jane Cabrera (B, T)
I love this book or any book by Jane Cabrera! The Color Box written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illus. by Giles Laroche (T)
This is such a fun book about colors and it's about boxes too!I Ain't Gonna Paint No More written by Karen Beaumont and illus. by David Catrow (T, P)
I love this book and its rhythm! I actually wish I had this in big book form so that the older kids could see that the boy was pointing to his butt at the end. But then, again, perhaps not.The parents and grandparents thought the whole book was funny too. Art written and illus.by Patrick McDonnell (P)
I :: LOVE :: Patrick McDonnell's books and comics! The book was perfect for the theme because the various ways he did the art on the pages.Bear's Picturewritten by Daniel Pinkwater and illus. by D.B. Johnson (P)
This was fun book to read. You can ask the children if they saw what the gentlemen were seeing then if they saw what the bear said his painting looked like. I love you have to turn the book upside down to see what his painting became!

Pat a Cake (B)
Pat a cake, Pat a cake (pat knees/lap in rhythm)
Baker's man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
You roll it and pat it (roll your hands or arms then pat your hands together!)
And mark it with a 'B' (mark a B in your palm)
Put it in the oven for baby and me! (pretend your putting it in the oven then point to baby and yourself!)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (B)(follow actions with your fingers and arms)
The itsy bitsy spider (move your fingers like a spider going upward)
went up the water spout.
Down came the rain (wiggle your fingers like rain is falling)
and washed the spider out! (sweep with your hands like the a wave of water washed the spider out)
Out came the sun (raise arms overhead in a circle to make a sun)
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider (make your finger spider go upwards again!)
went up the spout again!

Continue with other colors:purple, green, orange, etc.
Source: ME! I piggybacked the song from the classic "Mary Wore a Red Dress"

Closing Rhyme: Touch Your Nose (T, P)(follow actions)

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARD

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? (T)
If there were toddlers in the program I would have done the flannel version of the story were they had to put the animal on the board when I read the rhyme out loud.

Mary Used Red Paint (T, P)
As cues for which color we were going to sing about next I made "paint splotches" to put on the board, which we pretended to be a giant paint canvas. To make it even more fun I let the children hold onto my big paint brushes and way them about while we sang. After the song we pretended to paint shapes in the air. The circle was the easiest and most fun one to do!

CRAFT

"Anyone Can Be An Artist" Tie Dye Window Decoration (T, P)
I wanted to do a craft that allowed the kids to feel like artists without the mess of paint and brushes. So! I I decided that they were going to make window decorations with a ruffled coffee filter and washable markers. Have the children color the filter, which was flattened out, any way they want with the markers. Note that the more color they use the richer and runnier the markers will be. Why?! Because you're going to spray the filters with water when they're done, that's why! I used a regular spray bottle to get the filters wet, and we washed the colors run and meld together to become tie dye-y! To make it a window decoration I had whole punched the filters during my craft bag prepping, and handed out a string at the end of the program saying that hang up the filter in a window once it dried. Oh, and the kids left with their wet filters on a paper plate.Voila! Artsy fun!

More books about colors and art!Mouse Paintwritten and illus. by Ellen Stoll Walsh (T)Can't go wrong with this one! I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean written and illus. by Kevin Sherry (T, P)Vincent's Colorswritten and pictures by Vincent Van Gogh (T, P)This is such a cool book that I wish I had time for it during the program!Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Countingwritten and illus. by Emma Dodd (T, P)The Squigglewritten by Carole Lexa Schaefer and illus. by Pierr Morgan (P)Warthogs Paint: A Messy Color Book written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illus. by Henry Cole (P)A Book About Color: A Clear and Simple Guide for Young Artistwritten and illus. by Mark Gonyea (T, P)This lives in my library's juvenile nonfiction collection, but you can read it as a book about colors. Towards the end the text gets a little complicated more than what a preschooler may need to know about colors, but I would still show the pictures anyway because their descriptive and so on. The Dot and Ishwritten and illus. by Peter Reynolds (P)I ::love:: these books!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentine's Day is tomorrow! Due to winter weather I only had one toddler in Toddler Storytime and eight Preschooler, which is quite small for my growing group. However(!), we still had a lot of fun! I Love how Preschool children understand the concept of Valentine's Day, and how they love to make crafts and Valentine cards!

T= Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentinewritten by Sarah Weeks and illus. by Fumi Kosaka (T)This is such an adorable book! I love how it rhymes, and the I think the mixture of familiar and not-so-familiar animals is a great combo!All Kinds of Kisses written and illus. by Nancy Tafuri (T)
A new book for our library and the moment I saw it on my cart I knew it was perfect for Toddler Storytime! Kids will love to make the animal noises! Love it!The Day It Rained Hearts written and illus. by Felicia Bond (P)
This is a great classic for me. I really would love to have this in a big book format so that the pictures are bigger for the huge storytime crowd (if I get one!)! Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!written by Kyle Mewburn and illus. by Ali Teo and John O'Reilly (P)
This is funny story, and some children can relate! I read this book at my first Valentine's Day storytime many moons ago! Falling for Rapunzel written by Leah Wilcox and illus. by Lydia Monks (P)
Hilarious rhyming story! Children are now familiar with the Rapunzel story thanks to the Disney movie Tangled.

Little Heart (P)
I have a little heart (place hand over heart)
And it goes thump, thump, thump (pat chest three times)
It keeps right on beating,
When I jump, jump, jump (jump three times!)
I get a special feeling, when I look at you (point to the children!)
It makes me want to give you a hug or two! (hug yourself!)
Source: The Best Kids Book Site via Storytime Katie

Skidamarink (P)
Skidamarink a dink dink. (put right elbow in left hand and wiggle fingers)
Skidamarink a doo. (put left elbow in right hand and wiggle fingers)
I love you. (point to eyes, hug yourself, and point to others)

Skidamarink a dink dink.
Skidamrink a doo.
I love you.

I love you in the morning. (make a big circle over your head like the sun)
And in the afternoon. (hold arms in circle in front of you)
I love you in the even. (move arms in circle down)
And underneath the moon (release arms and make another big circle above your heard)

Heart Matching (T, P)
I created ten hearts and decorated them with
stripes and dots then cut them in half to be "broken" hearts. The
children got the other side and they took turns putting their half on the board and matching it to the corresponding piece. You could see some of the younger preschoolers' gears turning as they figure out which half matched there's it was perfect! The game was inspired by Busy Crafting Mommy.

CRAFT

"I Love You This Much" Hands (T, P)
I saw this on Pinterest and knew instantly that I wanted to use this as a new form of Valentine's Day gift for the kids. The preschoolers loved it and took extra time to color their hands (created with an awesome die cut shape). If there was more time to the program I would have had them trace and cut out their own handprint, but alas not today. Unlike the inspiration, I just printed off "I Love You" and "This Much" and had the kids glue them onto their shapes. It was perfect! Craft inspired A Day In My Life.

Craft Extra: I had made hearts from red construction paper to use as a special name tag. The children were encouraged to take the left overs to make more Valentine cards at home so that I didn't have lots left over!

SPECIAL ACTIVITY

Egg Shakers (T)
The one toddler that came today :: loves :: the egg shakers. The moment he had them in his hands he did everything from shaking them to the sky then down to our toes and with arms stretched out. He smiled so big too! Awesome for a brand new 2-year-old!

PICTURE
Heart Matching done by the Preschool Storytime group!

Matching Hearts, Preschool Storytime
Created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

MORE BOOKS

Valentine Mice! written by Bethany Roberts and illus. by Doug Cushman (T) Valentine Surprise written by Corinne Demas and illus. by R.W. Alley (T, P) Sweet Hearts written by Jan Carr and illus. by Dorothy Donohue (T, P) 10 Valentine Friends written by Janet Schulman and illus. by Linda Davick (P)The Ballad of Valentine written by Alison Jackson and illus. by Tricia Tusa (P)Homemade Love written by Bell Hooks and illus. by Shane W. Evans (P)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The day has come at last! The 2012 Texas Bluebonnet Award has been announced!

The TBA committee created a great video to present the winning book as well as the top five and the number of votes. You can view the video on their website (follow the link). They also have a downloadable stats sheet that shoes you the all the numbers, which is a new thing for them and I :: heart :: them for it! For those who just want a brief recap check it out below!

Total Votes cast: 176, 569

Out of the 20 books on the 2011-2012 Master List here is the top five:

5th Place with13, 284 votes

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy written and illus. by Dori Hillestad Butler

4th Place with 16, 298 votes

The Storm in the Barn written and illus. by Matt Phelan

3rd Place with 18, 924 votesOut of My Mind written by Sharon Draper

2nd Place with 19, 362 votes

Goal! written by Mina Javaherbin and illus. by A. J. Ford

And drum roll please.... ddldldldldldldldldldldlldldld.....

1st Place Texas Bluebonnet Award Winner with 28, 961 votes

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda written and illus. by Tom Angelberger

There you have it! Now it's onto reading the 2012-2013 list to get ready for the next voting time!

Monday, February 6, 2012

February is African American History Month! My library system generally will incorporate cultural storytimes a few times a year, and this is one of them. With the inspiration from a coworker I decided to read books that were awarded and honored for the Coretta Scott King Book Award. Surprisingly, it went quite well! The toddlers had a bunch of wiggles during the book sharing, but they loved our special activity. The preschoolers enjoyed the books more, but it really was down to the special activity that had the most fun.

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

My People written by Langston Hughes and photography by Charles R. Smith Jr. - 2010 CSK Illustrator Award book (T)
This was a great simple poem. As an attempt to get most of the toddlers into the book I had them look at the people's smiles and smile just as big, find their eyes, and etc.Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles - Think of That! written and illus. by Leo and Diane Dillon - 2003 CSK Illustrator Honor book (T)
One girl thought he was silly as he kept on dancing down the street, but she still liked the book.Black Catwritten and illus. by Christopher Myers - 2000 CSK Illustrator Honor book (P)
The kids liked seeing the black cat go everywhere.Uptown written and illus by Bryan Collier - 2001 CSK Illustrator Award book (P)

Exploring Cat Collages (T, P)
Inspired by Christipher Myers' Black Cat, the children got to make collages complete with a cat. I clipped out pictures of flowers, gardens, books, kitchens, food, ocean and much more from magazines, and matched pictures so that each craft back had a theme : flower garden (picket fence, watering can, flowers), beach (waves, surfer, sea shells), open range (buffalo, fields of grain, and mountains), and etc. This could be a lot of work, especially prepping for thirty children or so, but it was soooo worth it!

SPECIAL ACTIVITY

Jazz Appreciation (T, P)
Since there were no true songs or rhymes, I opted for Jazz dancing. Children got to listen to Louis Armstrong's classic What a Wonderful World and Ella Fritzgerald's A Tisket, A Tasket. For What a Wonderful World they got to dance a round with colorful silk scarves, which beautifully matched the lyrics to the point it almost got tearful! For A Tisket, A Tasket they got to play with the egg shakers. It was great! The preschoolers had a lot of fun with it!

PICTURE

Here is what my own craft picture looks like. The children loved doing this craft!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The first storytime of the Winter/Spring 2012 season I did a "Hello, Goodbye" theme. I thought it would be a nice opener with the expression that I want to say "hello" to every newcomer and regular every storytime day! I discovered that Storytime Katie had done the same theme and loved the rhymes and songs she did.

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Hello, Worldwritten and illus. by Michael Foreman (T)Hello, Day! written and illus. by Anita Lobel (T)Hello, Sun written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illus. by Sachiko Yoshikawa (P)Hello! Is this Grandma? written by Ian Whybrow and illus. by Deborah Allwright (P)
This is always a funny book to dramatize! Say Hello! written and illus. by Rachel Isadora (P)
A great book show the different ways of greeting each other. Pronunciations are in the back, which is a big help!

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)(follow actions)
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap
Creep them, creep them up to your chin
Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a big clap
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap.

We Wave Hello/Goodbye Like This (T, P)Tune: The Farmer in the Dell (follow actions)
We wave hello/goodbye like this,
We wave hello/goodbye like this,
We clap our hands for all our friends,
We wave hello/goodbye like this.
I use do the hello at the beginning of the program then goodbye at the end.
Source: Storytime Katie

Can We Find? (T, P)
I created three animals and three barns with numbers on them. The children had to guess which barn number the animal we sang about was hiding behind. See picture below!

CRAFT

"This is the way I say 'Hello' / 'Goodbye' Talk Bubbles" (T, P)
The children were given a talk bubble that one had space for them or their guardian to write how they say "hello" and, on the other side, "goodbye." The bubbles were taped to a craft stick. It may be best if it was made into a necklace.

PICTURE
The children loved guessing which barn the animals were hiding behind. Once you're down to one animal, though, everyone knows which barn it is. Yet, it's still fun!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

For some unknown reason I had always wanted to do a Box storytime theme. Perhaps it's because a box a can be so many things with just a little imagination! Summer 2010 was my chance to finally fulfill that goal, and it was great despite being amazingly simple!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

The Color Box written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illus. by Giles Laroche (TP)
I love this book. The different colors on each page is perfect for children to shout out!Not a Box written and illus. by Antoinette Portis (T, P)
One of my favorite go-to books!Thank You Bear written and illus. by Greg Foley (P)Special Delivery written by Bridgitte Weninger, illus. by Alexander Reichstein and translated by J. Alison James(P)
This book was fun and the children loved the pop-up ending!

Here is a Box (T, P)
Here is a box where something is hid
I wonder whatever is under there
Could it be? Why, yes!
Without any doubt, it is a ______
Let it come out!
Source: King County Library System

Jack in a Box (T, P)
Jack in a box, Jack in a box. (crouch or bend down)
Sitting so still. (stay still!)
Won't you come out?
YES, I will! (jump up!)
Source: King County Library System

Closing Rhyme: Touch Your Nose (T, P)

(follow actions)

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

CRAFT

"My Box is a..." color sheets (T, P)
The color sheet just had a rectangle printed on it with the title "My Box is a...". The toddlers just scribbled and scribbled, which is perfectly fine and awesome. The preschoolers, especially after hearing and seeing the story Not a Box drew a huge array of different things like a space ship, a boat, Iron Man (box was his torso), and a house. One child drew an entire story that his mom frantically scribbled down in crayon. It went along the lines of this: a submarine (box) got swallowed by a whale (a large circle around the box) then he swallowed a bee. The bee stung his tummy and the whale went "ahhhh!" and the submarine and bee escaped. Brilliant!!!! (Priceless Moment)

SPECIAL ACTIVITY

Here is a Box (T, P)
For this rhyme I stuffed a big cardboard box full of our puppets. Every time we recited the rhyme I asked what type of animal "makes this noise____" and I would oink like a pig or roar like a dinosaur. If the children didn't know I would pop it all out and they had to tell me what it was then ask what noise it makes. It's so much fun!

SPECIAL TIDBIT

To hold my storytime books, song and rhyme banners, and craft examples, I took a small cardboard box and decorated with colorful die cut shapes and labeled it the Storytime Box. I have used it ever since (though I believe soon enough I will have to make a plastic version)!Thank

MORE BOOKS?

Here some other books that are great for storytime too!Magic Box written and illus. by Katie CleminsonMeeow and the Big Box written and illus. by Sebastien BruanMy Book Box written and illus. by Will HillenbrandSitting in My Box written by Dee Lillegard and illus. by Jon Agee

To date this is my best fall/autumn storytime I have done! The guardians loved the books and the children had fun with our special activity.

BOOKS

Ten Red Apples written and illus. by (T)Leaf Man written and illus. by Lois Ehlert (T, P)
One mom loved the illustrations and the children could see the animals made out of leaves!Every Season written by Anne Love Woodhull and Shelly Rotner and photographs by Shelley Rotner (T, P)
I only read the portion about autumn.Dappled Apples written by Jan Carr and illus. by Dorothy Donohue (P)

Falling Leaves (P)
The preschool children glued colored shapes to a sheet of paper that also had a leafless tree.

SPECIAL ACTIVITY

Autumn Leaves are Falling Down (T, P)
We used our colorful gauze scarves for this song. We tossed them up in the air and let them float down before we caught them/ picked them up to do it all over again. Everyone LOVED it!

About Me

Salutations! I am the owner of The Wielded Pen. Educated in English and Children's Literature, I am an avid reader, an aspiring writer and artist, lover of travel, and, all-in-all, a Super Children's Librarian.